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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

This episode is a rather dialog heavy one, where we finally leave the Greybox and head to the mission hub in Saudi Arabia. Also, Yancy gives us the low down on Alpha Protocol's most important mechanic: dialog.

Yancy's conversation here highlights what anaphysik and I were talking about: There are no bad conversation options you can take in Alpha Protocol. Every choice you make confers some sort of perk. Even if someone is upset with you and becomes your handler in a later mission, you don't get a penalty for it. Instead, you get a different perk, which could either be better or worse depending on the character archetype you are going for. No matter which way you go through the game, the game will react accordingly, giving you different perks and possibly dialogue options.

We also learned a bit about dossiers, which are another important element to the game. As you explore the levels, you can learn much more about the people you encounter by scavenging for documents and details on them, unlocking more of their dossier. While this has the benefit of helping you figure out how people will react to you pushing and prodding them, they have another benefit. If you complete a dossier on any of the boss characters in the game (we'll get to that, I assure you) you gain a damage bonus against that boss. This is more useful than those unfamiliar to the game might think.

We want Aldowyn to wear civilian clothes for the comedic value, but there is actually a good reason to wear regular clothing over armor. While civvies do not have the same protection and potential for upgrades as any of the armors (which come in Combat, Stealth, and Utility varieties), they offer some of the best noise reduction in the entire game, only matched by the Advanced Stealth Suit. Daring players can use it as a cheap replacement until they can gather the necessary funds for the suit.

Lastly, I want to take the time to mention how hilarious I think it is that every intelligence agency and criminal enterprise goes through the same Clearinghouse system to do business. I understand that it has to be that way because Alpha Protocol is an RPG, but it still amuses me. Several characters reference this because oftentimes when you meet them for the first time, you'll get an e-mail later saying that they've marked you as a preferred buyer at their Clearinghouse store. The guy who runs the service must make a fortune off all the sales that happen over it.

This was by far my favourite safe-house. Most of the game looks graphically/artistically average, but this one blew me away when I first saw it. In general the safe house design is some of the best bits of the game looks wise

EDIT (Also another vote for the hate of this CAPTCHA. Whenever I do it, it makes me think of the robotapocalypse)